Lado Gudiashvili

(also, Vladimir Gudiashvili). Born Mar. 18 (30), 1896, in Tbilisi. Soviet painter and graphic artist; People’s Artist of the Georgian SSR (1957).

Gudiashvili studied in Tbilisi at the School of Painting and Sculpture (1910–14). From 1919 to 1926 he lived in Paris, where he studied at a private studio. Gudiashvili’s work, influenced by medieval Georgian art and Western European developments of the 1920’s, is replete with folklore motifs and mythological and fantastic images—for example, Ser-afita’s Outing, a portrait of the actress Tamara Tsitsishvili (both 1940, Museum of Art of the Georgian SSR, Tbilisi), and a series of antifascist drawings (india ink, 1942). Gudiashvili’s other works include the illustrations for The Wisdom of Invention by Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani (sepia, 1939 and 1960) and illustrations for Georgian Folksongs by G. Chkhikvadze (sepia, 1946). Gudiashvili was awarded the Sh. Rustaveli State Prize of the Georgian SSR (1965). He also received the Order of Lenin, two other orders, and a medal.